Former Pope John Paul II will be promoted to full sainthood in early 2014, setting a new record. Although the church admits that they (almost literally) ran though this process – faster than any time in the millennia before – they claim it still holds up to rigorous standards and close scrutiny.

And then they come up with this brilliant bit of reasoning:

“In fact, canonization by the Catholic Church simply formalizes on earth what is already in place in heaven. […] It’s not like Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II, will suddenly become a saint when the canonization ceremony occurs. The belief would be he is already in heaven with God, living the life of a saint. All that’s going to happen when the ceremony occurs is that the church will officially recognize that.”

OK. But then why have a process at all?